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Territorial disputes have occurred throughout history, over lands around the world. Bold indicates one claimant's full control; italics indicates one or more claimants' partial control.
Territory | Claimants | Notes |
---|---|---|
Abyei, Jodha, Kafia Kingi, Jau, Heglig, Megenis MTS. and Kaka | Sudan South Sudan | Both Sudan and South Sudan have claimed the area after the civil war that led to South Sudan's independence. Heglig was controlled by South Sudan in mid-April 2012, but retaken by Sudan. |
Banc du Geyser | France Comoros Madagascar | Scattered Islands in the Indian Ocean, a district of the French Southern Territories. |
Bassas da India, Europa Island and Juan de Nova Island | France Madagascar [1] | De facto part of the French overseas territory of the French Southern Territories. |
Ceuta, [2] Melilla, and other plazas de soberanía | Spain Morocco | Ceuta and Melilla are administered by Spain as autonomous cities. After an incident on Perejil Island in 2002, both countries agreed to return to the status quo . [3] |
Doumeira Mountain, Ras Doumeira and Doumeira Island | Eritrea Djibouti | Basis of the Djiboutian–Eritrean border conflict of 2008. Disputed territory occupied by Eritrea following withdrawal of Qatari peacekeepers in June 2017. [4] [5] Alternatively transliterated as the Dumaira Mountains. [4] |
Glorioso Islands | France Madagascar Comoros | De facto a part of the French overseas territory of the French Southern Territories. |
Hala'ib Triangle and Bir Tawil | Egypt Sudan [6] | Previously under joint administration; Egypt now maintains full de facto control of the Hala'ib Triangle. The boundaries claimed by Egypt and Sudan both include the Hala'ib Triangle. The area of Bir Tawil close to the triangle is unclaimed by both countries. |
Ilemi Triangle | Kenya South Sudan | De facto controlled by Kenya. Ethiopian tribes used and made raids in the land, but the Ethiopian government has never made a claim to it, agreeing it was Sudanese in 1902, 1907, and 1972 treaties. [7] [8] [9] |
KaNgwane and Ingwavuma | South Africa Eswatini | Eswatini claims territories that it states were confiscated during colonial times. [10] The area claimed by Eswatini is the former bantustan of KaNgwane, which now forms the northern parts of Jozini and uMhlabuyalingana local municipalities in KwaZulu-Natal, and the southern part of Nkomazi, the southeastern part of Umjindi and the far eastern part of Albert Luthuli local municipalities in Mpumalanga. |
Koalou village and surrounding area | Burkina Faso Benin | Burkina Faso and Benin retain a border dispute at this 7.75 km2 triangular area of land near the tripoint border with Togo. [11] [12] In a 2008 meeting, it was declared that the territory was a neutral zone, neither Burkinabé nor Beninese. [11] According to the UN Refugee Agency in 2015, there were issues of children being born stateless in the area, however, a Beninese civil registration office has taken control of registering births in the area. [13] |
Kpéaba village area (near Sipilou/Siquita) | Ivory Coast Guinea | The Guinean military occupied this village for 1 month from January to February 2013, before withdrawing in preparation for talks. [14] In December 2016, Guinea soldiers and civilians attacked the village, killing 1 and wounding several others, before returning to their side of the border. [15] According to the Guinean Minister of Defence, the Guinean army had been asked not to send any soldiers to this area and had no involvement in this incident. [16] |
Area near Logoba/Moyo District | South Sudan Uganda | A 1914 British colonial order defined the international border based on the tribal boundary between the Kuku of Kajokeji (South Sudan) and the Ma'di of Moyo (Uganda). However, the border was never formally demarcated. [17] In 2014, a conflict was triggered by the Ugandan national census when Ugandan officials were detained by South Sudan authorities. [18] |
Area near Chiengi, Lunchinda-Pweto Province | Zambia DR Congo | Zambia and Congo have different interpretations of the borders set out in an 1894 treaty between British settlers and Leopold II, King of the Belgians. There have been incidents between the armies of both countries in 1996, 2006, and 2016. In March 2020, Zambia deployed troops on the Congolese side of the border. [19] |
Right bank of the Lunkinda River (near the village of Pweto) [20] | DR Congo Zambia | |
Mayotte | France Comoros [1] | Under the 2009 referendum, the population supported becoming an overseas department of France, so Mayotte became one on March 31, 2011. |
Islands in Mbamba Bay, Lake Nyasa | Tanzania Malawi | Lundo Is. and Mbamba Is. are claimed as part of the lake, as Malawi has claims to the shore − based on the 1890 Anglo-German treaty. See Tanzania–Malawi dispute. |
Mbañie Island , Cocotiers and Congas Island | Gabon Equatorial Guinea | Contested islands in Corisco Bay, valuable for their oil. [21] [22] |
Several islands in the Congo River | Republic of the Congo DR Congo | Most of the boundary in the Congo River remains undefined. [23] |
An island in the Ntem River | Cameroon Equatorial Guinea | [24] |
Several villages near the Okpara River | Benin Nigeria | |
The Rufunzo Valley and Sabanerwa | Rwanda Burundi | In 1965, the Akanyaru River changed course due to heavy rains. Burundians point to Rwandan farmers for contributing to the change of course by rice-growing. [25] |
Rukwanzi Island and the Semliki River valley | DR Congo Uganda | The dispute is related to fishing rights in Lake Edward and Lake Albert. [26] |
Sindabezi Island | Zambia Zimbabwe [27] | Tourist island on the Zambezi River, west of the Victoria Falls |
Tromelin Island | France Mauritius Madagascar | De facto a part of the French overseas territory of the French Southern Territories. |
Wadi Halfa Salient | Egypt Sudan | Most of the disputed territory comprised villages flooded by Lake Nasser after the construction of the Aswan Dam. [28] |
Territory | Claimants | Notes |
---|---|---|
Bajo Nuevo Bank and Serranilla Bank | Colombia Honduras United States | Jamaica and Nicaragua have recognized the sovereignty of Colombia; other claimants have not. On November 19, 2012, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Colombia has sovereignty over Bajo Nuevo Bank and Serranilla. [29] Honduras implicitly recognized Colombian sovereignty in a 1999 maritime delimitation treaty, but continues to claim the two banks in its constitution. [30] |
Conejo Island | Honduras El Salvador | |
Navassa Island [1] | United States Haiti | The U.S. has claimed the island since 1857, based on the Guano Islands Act of 1856. [31] Haiti's claim over Navassa goes back to the Treaty of Ryswick in 1697 that established French possessions in mainland Hispaniola, which were transferred from Spain by the treaty as well as other specifically named nearby islands. |
Sapodilla Cayes | Belize Guatemala Honduras | Guatemala formally claims all of Belize; an International Court of Justice decision over the matter is pending. |
Belizean-Guatemalan territorial dispute | Belize Guatemala | The Guatemalan Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued a statement in which Guatemala specifically claims territory between the Sibun and Sarstoon rivers, which makes up around half of Belizean-administered territory. However, Guatemala also claims all of Belize because its historical recognition of British Honduras was contingent on the construction of a road between Guatemala City and the Atlantic Ocean which was never built, an apparent violation of the Wyke-Aycinena Treaty. An International Court of Justice decision over the matter is pending. [32] |
Territory | Canadian claimant | U.S. claimant |
---|---|---|
Machias Seal Island | New Brunswick | Maine |
North Rock | ||
Territory | Claimants | Notes |
---|---|---|
Guyana–Venezuela territorial dispute (Guyana west of the Essequibo River) and Ankoko Island | Guyana Venezuela | Approximately two-thirds of Guyana's sovereign territory is claimed by Venezuela. Following arbitration, a demarcated border was established in 1905 following the Arbitral Award of 1899 but was later contested by Venezuela in 1962 following the publication of the Mallet-Prevost memorandum. The crisis was renewed recently following the discovery of oil deposits. |
Arroyo de la Invernada or Rincón de Artigas and Vila Albornoz | Brazil Uruguay | Dispute in the 237 km2 (92 sq mi) Invernada River region near Masoller, over which tributary represents the legitimate source of the Quaraí River/Cuareim River. The UN does not officially recognize the claim.[ clarification needed ] |
Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands [1] | United Kingdom Argentina | See Falkland Islands sovereignty dispute and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands sovereignty dispute. |
French Guiana and Suriname involving the Maroni River | France Suriname | The source or tributary of the Lawa River between Suriname and French Guiana is disputed but eventually follows to the tripoint with Brazil. The Netherlands, and now Suriname, contends that the boundary follows the Malani River to the east, while France asserts that the border follows the Litani River to the west. |
New River Triangle (Tigri Area) involving the Courantyne River and the New River | Guyana Suriname | The New River Triangle (also known as the Tigri Area) is a region within the Guiana Highlands that has been disputed by Suriname and Guyana since the 19th century. It involves the Courantyne River and the interpreted source of the river. In 1871, the New River was discovered, questioning the boundary between the two states. |
Isla Brasilera/Ilha Brasileira | Brazil Uruguay | Uruguayan officials claim that the island falls under their Artigas Department (the UN does not officially recognize the claim). |
Isla Suárez/Ilha de Guajará-mirim | Bolivia Brazil | An island in the river Rio Mamoré that serves as a border between Bolivia and Brazil, alongside the other 80 islands that are not assigned to any country. Isla Suárez is geographically closer to Bolivia, however economically dependent on the Brazilian city of Guajará-Mirim. Both countries signed a treaty in 1958 that keeps the island in a status quo. |
Southern Patagonian Ice Field | Argentina Chile | From Mount Fitz Roy to Cerro Murallón the border remains undefined, while in the zone of Murallón and Cerro Daudet both countries already defined a border in 1998, but their respective cartographies differ. |
The Antarctic Treaty, formed on 1 December 1959 and entered into force on 23 June 1961, is a key component for the management of Antarctica and helps provide administration for the continent, which is carried out through consultative member meetings.
Territory | Claimants | Antarctic territory |
---|---|---|
Area between 25°W and 53°W | Argentina United Kingdom | Argentine Antarctica British Antarctic Territory |
Area between 53°W and 74°W | Argentina Chile United Kingdom | Argentine Antarctica Antártica Chilena Province British Antarctic Territory |
Area between 74°W and 80°W | Chile United Kingdom | Antártica Chilena Province British Antarctic Territory |
Territory | Claimants | Notes |
---|---|---|
Mazraat Deir al-Ashayer | Lebanon Syria | Mazraat Deir al-Ashayer is administered and controlled by Lebanon's Zahlé District, Beqaa Governorate, but claimed by Syria's Al-Zabadani District, Rif Dimashq Governorate. [33] |
Abu Musa | Iran United Arab Emirates | In 1971, the Iranian navy took control of Abu Musa, at the time part of the Emirate of Sharjah. The Emirate of Sharjah later joined the United Arab Emirates, who therefore inherited an official claim on Abu Musa. As of 2022, this is an ongoing dispute, with Iran in control of the island since its takeover in 1971. |
Greater and Lesser Tunbs | Iran United Arab Emirates | Closely related to the dispute over Abu Musa, Iran had also around the same time seized control over the Greater and Lesser Tunbs while they were under control by the Emirate of Ras al-Khaimah. When Ras al-Khaimah joined the United Arab Emirates, the dispute was also inherited to the UAE. The dispute is still ongoing as of 2022. |
Bukit Jeli | Thailand Malaysia | |
Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan | Pakistan India | Administered by Pakistan and claimed by India. Part of the Kashmir conflict. |
Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh | India Pakistan | Part of the Kashmir conflict. Both India and Pakistan claim the former independent princely state of Jammu and Kashmir (including Ladakh, which India split off from the portion that it controls in 2019), leading to the Indo-Pakistani war of 1947. A UN-mediated ceasefire put a halt to the conflict in January 1949. The UN resolution called for both the countries to demilitarise the region, following which a plebiscite would be held. However, no demilitarisation plan acceptable to both the countries could be agreed. The countries fought two further wars in 1965 and 1971. Following the latter war, the countries reached the Simla Agreement, agreeing on a Line of Control between their respective regions and committing to a peaceful resolution of the dispute through bilateral negotiations. An armed insurgency broke out in 1989 in the Indian administered part of Kashmir, demanding "independence". Pakistan has provided arms and training to the militants. [34] [35] [36] [37] |
Junagadh and Manavadar | India Pakistan | India annexed Junagadh (located within Gujarat) in 1947, shortly after the partition of India. Junagadh was one of the many princely states that was contested between India and Pakistan; Manavadar was a vassal state of Junagadh, alongside Babariawad and Mangrol. The dispute fell into obscurity over the next few years due to the prioritisation of the Kashmir conflict. In August 2020, Pakistan revived the decades-old dispute by highlighting "Junagadh and Manavadar" as a part of Pakistan in an official map on its "Survey of Pakistan" website. The dispute is largely symbolic in nature and is politically connected to the dispute over Kashmir, which is much more important to Pakistan. [38] [39] |
David Gareja monastery complex boundary dispute | Georgia Azerbaijan | Since the monastery complex is located on the border between Georgia and Azerbaijan, both parties have entered a dispute over which nation it belongs to. |
Doi Lang | Myanmar Thailand | |
Fasht ad Dibal and Qit'at Jaradah | Bahrain Qatar | These are island territories that are disputed between Qatar and Bahrain. Controlled by Bahrain, Qatar argues that the territories do not qualify as "islands" and hence are not covered by the International Court of Justice ruling (2001–2003) that handed them over to Bahrain. |
Several areas in the Fergana Valley | Kyrgyzstan Tajikistan Uzbekistan | Kyrgyzstan: Barak is a tiny Kyrgyz village in the Fergana Valley region (where Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan meet). In August 1999, the area around Barak was occupied by Uzbekistan. Barak became a de facto enclave only 1.5 km from the shifted main border. [40] [41] [42] (Map) In August 2018, Kyrgyz and Uzbek authorities agreed to a land swap that would eliminate the exclave, claiming that the exchange process may take up to two years. [43] As of a February 2022 report, only 85 percent of the land was traded, and then work stopped, leaving only 15 families to preserve Barak. [44] Tajikistan: There are three Tajik exclaves, all of them in the Fergana Valley. One of them, the village of Sarvan, is surrounded by Uzbek territory, whereas the remaining two, the village of Vorukh and a small settlement near the Kyrgyz railway station of Kairagach, are each surrounded by Kyrgyz territory. Uzbekistan: There are four Uzbek exclaves, all inside Kyrgyz territory in the Fergana Valley. Two of them are the towns of Sokh and Shakhimardan and the other two the tiny territories of Chon-Qora and Jani-Ayil. There may be a fifth Uzbek exclave inside of Kyrgyzstan. [45] Most of the border in the area is still not demarcated. |
Isfara Valley | Kyrgyzstan Tajikistan | In April 2021, a violent disagreement broke out in Isfara Valley, supposedly over the installation of surveillance cameras by the Tajiks at a water intake station of a reservoir. [46] It escalated into an armed conflict that reached hundreds of civilian casualties. The area's dispute is mainly due to faulty allocation of resources during and after the breakup of the Soviet Union and its republics, leading to tense relations between nations over said allocation of resources, namely water. |
Ambalat | Indonesia Malaysia | |
Golan Heights | Israel Syria | Syrian territory captured by Israel in 1967 (the Six-Day War), and unilaterally annexed by Israel in 1981. In 2008, a plenary session of the United Nations General Assembly voted by 161–1 in favor of a motion on the "occupied Syrian Golan" that reaffirmed support for UN Resolution 497; United Nations, December 5, 2008). During the Syrian civil war period, Syrian Arab Republic had lost direct control of the Eastern Golan areas and retreated from cease-fire line with Israel (in favor of various rebel and Jihadist groups), though did regain the area in 2018. |
Hatay Province | Turkey Syria | Annexed by Turkey in 1939, claimed by Syria. [47] |
Shebaa Farms | Israel Lebanon Syria | |
Israel within the Green Line | Israel Palestine | See Israeli–Palestinian conflict |
West Bank and East Jerusalem | Israel
Palestine | See Israeli occupation of the West Bank |
Kalapani region, the smaller Susta River dispute and Antudanda disputes | India Nepal | Kalapani is administered by India while Susta is administered by Nepal. The few remaining border disagreements with Nepal since delineation was announced 98% complete in 2019. [48] See Territorial disputes of India and Nepal. |
The exclave Artsvashen of the Gegharkunik province | Azerbaijan Armenia Artsvashen is internationally recognized as part of Armenia | Azerbaijan and Armenia have controlled these areas as part of the wider Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. |
Karki exclave of the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic The three exclaves Barkhudarli, Sofulu and Yukhari Askipara of the Qazax District | Armenia Azerbaijan All four exclaves are internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan | |
Khuriya Muriya Islands | Oman Yemen | |
Korean Peninsula | North Korea South Korea | The Democratic People's Republic of Korea administers North Korea, but Article 1 of the Constitution of North Korea reads: "The Democratic People's Republic of Korea is an independent socialist State representing the interests of all the Korean people." The Republic of Korea administers South Korea, but Article 3 of the Constitution of South Korea reads: "The territory of the Republic of Korea shall consist of the Korean peninsula and its adjacent islands." |
South Kuril/Chishima Islands (Northern Territories), Kuril/Chishima Islands, and South Sakhalin [1] [49] | Russia Japan | After the end of World War II, the Japanese government renounced its claims of the sovereignty over the Kuril Islands (except for a few islands in the south) and South Sakhalin in The Treaty of San Francisco. [50] However, since the Soviet Union did not sign that treaty and the treaty did not explicitly approve Russian sovereignty over these areas, the Japanese government has stated that attribution of these regions has not yet been determined. Therefore, they do not recognize Soviet rule in those areas (current the Russian Federation). [51] For this reason, these lands are shown as No Man's Land in white color on most official maps in Japan. |
Dokdo/Takeshima | South Korea North Korea Japan | South Korea currently maintains control over the territory, which it has administered since June 1954. The status of Dokdo/Takeshima remains a point of contention between the two countries. | The Liancourt Rocks, known as Dokdo in Korean and Takeshima in Japanese, are a set of disputed islets in the Sea of Japan. Japan claims sovereignty over the islets, pointing out the fact that in the San Francisco Peace Treaty of 1951, Dokdo/Takeshima was not included among the territories to be renounced by Japan.
Islands in the Mekong river [20] | Laos Thailand | |
Noktundo | Russia South Korea | In 1990, the former Soviet Union and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) signed a border treaty which made the border run through the center of the Tumen river, leaving Noktundo as a former island in Russia. South Korea refused to acknowledge the treaty. [52] [53] [54] |
"Pedra Branca"; several islets at the eastern entrance to the Singapore Strait | Singapore Malaysia | The International Court of Justice rendered its decision on 23 May 2008 that sovereignty over Pedra Branca belongs to Singapore; sovereignty over Middle Rocks belongs to Malaysia. It said sovereignty over South Ledge would remain disputed until the states could determine the ownership of the territorial waters in which it is located. [55] |
"Point 20"; a small area of land reclaimed from the sea by Singapore | Singapore Malaysia | Malaysia claims the land was reclaimed in its territorial waters. |
O'Tangav area (claimed as part of Stung Treng Province) | Laos Cambodia | [56] |
Area near Preah Vihear Temple (Khao Phra Wihan) | Thailand Cambodia | Temple complex awarded to Cambodia by an International Court of Justice ruling in 1962; "promontory" measuring 0.3 km2 immediately adjacent to temple awarded to Cambodia by ICJ ruling in 2013; both countries acknowledge continuing dispute over an additional 4.3 km2 immediately northwest of the 2013 ruling's area. |
Part of Sabah (North Borneo) | Malaysia Philippines | The Philippines retains a claim on the eastern part of Sabah (see North Borneo dispute) on the basis claimed by the Government of the Philippines that the territory is only leased by the former Sultanate of Sulu to British North Borneo Company, of which the Philippines argued that it should be the successor state of all Sulu past territories. [1] |
Saudi Arabia–United Arab Emirates border dispute | Saudi Arabia United Arab Emirates | |
Siachen Glacier and Saltoro Ridge area | India Pakistan | Controlled by India after Operation Meghdoot in 1984. [57] |
Sir Creek | A dispute over where in the estuary the line falls; only small areas of marsh land are disputed, but significant maritime territory is involved. It is divided mid-creek. | |
Parts of Three Pagodas Pass | Myanmar Thailand | |
The islands of Ukatnyy, Zhestky and Malyy Zhemchuzhnyy [58] | Russia Kazakhstan | |
Ungar-Too (Ungar-Tepa) mountain [59] [60] | Uzbekistan Kyrgyzstan | |
Eastern Ossetia (Truso Gorge, Ghuda Gorge, Kobi Plateau) | South Ossetia Georgia South Ossetia is internationally recognized as a proxy of Russia | Ossetia claims two gorges and their connecting plateau, all controlled by Georgia as part of the Kazbegi Municipality, as "historically eastern Ossetian lands." South Ossetia claims to have attempted to press these claims during the Russo-Georgian War, but was deterred by Russia, with the issue flaring again in 2018 and 2019. [61] [62] |
Territory | Claimants | Notes |
---|---|---|
Crimea (including Sevastopol) | Russia Ukraine | In 2014, Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula in a disputed referendum. Russian ownership of Crimea is recognized by a minority of countries. [64] The General Assembly Resolution 68/262 by votes 100 "in favor", 11 "against", 58 "abstained" and 24 abstentions noted that Crimea was part of Ukraine. Nonetheless, Crimea is practically a de facto subdivision of Russia as most of the control is in Russia's hands. [65] Russia and Ukraine both divide Crimea into two subdivisions, including a "republic" (Ukraine's Autonomous Republic and Russia's Republic) and the independent city of Sevastopol (Ukraine's "special city" and Russia's "federal city"). |
Donetsk Oblast | Ukraine Russia | See Russian invasion of Ukraine. |
Kherson Oblast | ||
Luhansk Oblast | ||
Zaporizhzhia Oblast | ||
| ||
| Ukraine Russia | This part of Mykolaiv was under Russia's control when Russian unilaterally annexed Kherson oblast, but Russia has since withdrawn during the Liberation of Kherson. During Russian control, a referendum was held in Snihurivka and in the surrounding area in which it joined Russia's Kherson Oblast; this referendum, whilst recognised by Russia, is not recognised by Ukraine. |
Ivangorod/Jaanilinn and Pechorsky District/Petserimaa | Russia Estonia | In 1917, the Autonomous Governorate of Estonia was formed by merging the governorates of Estonia and (parts of) Livonia. In the same year, a referendum was held in the midst of the Russian Revolution, joining Narva (and Ivangorod) to the governorate, which were previously part of Saint Petersburg Governorate. [67] The south-eastern border was based on old provincial borders, which lay west of the present border. [68] Under the 1920 Treaty of Tartu, the border of the newly established Republic of Estonia was set eastwards after border talks, incorporating the later-formed Petseri County. Estonia was occupied and annexed by the USSR in 1940. In 1944, decrees of the USSR Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, set the northeastern border along Narva river, re-ceding Ivangorod to Leningrad Oblast (but keeping Narva within the Estonian SSR) and select volosts/parishes of Petserimaa to Pskov Oblast. The Estonian constitution still references the 1920 treaty as the border. Repeated attempts to resolve the border dispute have de jure failed, as no border treaty has been ratified. [69] The unratified agreement does, however, renounce Estonian claims to these lands, in addition to acknowledgements of the de facto situation by heads of state and government at various points. [70] [71] |
Imia/Kardak | Greece Turkey | Broad number of delimitation disputes about a.o. national airspace, territorial waters and exclusive economic zones. Includes Imia/Kardak dispute. |
Mont Blanc summit dispute | France Italy | France asserts that the principal peaks on the Mont Blanc massif — Dôme du Goûter, Punta Helbronner, and Mont Blanc lie in French territory, while Italy asserts that the summits are shared. [72] |
Gibraltar | United Kingdom Spain [1] | Dispute over the interpretation of the Treaty of Utrecht and the location of the border. |
Rockall Bank dispute | Ireland United Kingdom Denmark Iceland | Rockall is an uninhabited islet in the North Atlantic Ocean with disputed claims to its basin. [73] |
Olivenza and Vila Real (including the Municipality of Táliga) | Spain Portugal | In 1801, during the War of the Oranges, Spain, with French military support, occupied the territory of Olivenza (in Portuguese Olivença). During the Vienna Treaty, the signatory powers (including Spain) agreed with the Portuguese arguments concerning its claim on Olivença but Spain never fulfilled its duty of giving the city of Olivença and its territory back to Portugal. |
Croatia-Serbia border dispute | Croatia Serbia | Limited areas along the Danube Parts of Osijek-Baranja and Vukovar-Syrmia Counties and West and South Bačka Districts. |
Island of Šarengrad | ||
Island of Vukovar | ||
Military complex near Sveta Gera | Slovenia Croatia | The complex is in the area of Žumberak/Gorjanci |
Drina river [20] | Bosnia and Herzegovina Serbia | Sections along the Drina in dispute. |
Prevlaka | Croatia Montenegro | |
An area on the Dragonja River | Slovenia Croatia | |
K Island | Ukraine Romania |
Territory | Claimants | Notes |
---|---|---|
Matthew Island and Hunter Island [1] | France ( New Caledonia) Vanuatu | |
Minerva Reefs | Tonga Fiji | Fiji claims that the entire reef is submerged at high tide, negating use of Minerva as a basis for any sovereignty or maritime EEZ claim by Tonga under the rules of UNCLOS. |
Swains Island [1] | United States Tokelau | Tokelau's claim is unsupported by New Zealand, of whom Tokelau is a dependency. New Zealand recognises US sovereignty over Swains Island. [74] [ clarification needed ] |
Wake Island [1] | United States Marshall Islands |
Territory | Claimants | Notes |
---|---|---|
Abagaitu Islet | Russia China [note 1] Republic of China [note 1] | Generally held to have been resolved in October 2004 by the Complementary Agreement between the People's Republic of China and the Russian Federation on the Eastern Section of the China-Russia Boundary. However, the settlement is not recognized by the Republic of China, which would consider the Argun as the basis of the Sino-Russian border there per the Treaty of Nerchinsk of 1689. [note 2] |
Abkhazia | Abkhazia Georgia | |
Aksai Chin and Depsang Plains | China [note 1] Republic of China [note 1] India | |
Arunachal Pradesh | India China [note 1] Republic of China [note 1] | Controlled by India but claimed by the PRC and ROC who dispute the validity of the McMahon Line. |
Bạch Long Vĩ Island | Vietnam Republic of China [note 2] | Transfer to Vietnam by the PRC in 1957. However, the settlement is not recognized by the Republic of China. [note 2] |
Chinese side of Baekdu Mountain [79] | China South Korea Republic of China [note 2] | Settled by the PRC and DPRK in 1962. However, the settlement is not recognized by the Republic of China, [note 2] and the Republic of Korea. |
Korean side of Baekdu Mountain [79] | North Korea South Korea Republic of China [note 2] | Also formerly claimed by the PRC until 1962. |
Beyul Khenpajong, the Menchuma Valley, and Chagdzom [80] | Bhutan China [note 1] Republic of China [note 1] | |
Eastern part of Bhutan | Bhutan Republic of China [note 2] | |
Bhutanese exclaves in western Tibet, namely Cherkip Gompa, Dho, Dungmar, Gesur, Gezon, Itse Gompa, Khochar, Nyanri, Ringung, Sanmar, Darchen, Doklam, and Zuthulphuk | China [note 1] Republic of China [note 1] Bhutan | |
Demchok sector / Parigas region | India China [note 1] Republic of China [note 1] | |
Chumar, Gue, Kaurik, Shipki La, Tashigang, Barahoti, Lapthal, Jadhang, Nelang, Pulam Sumda and Sang | India China [note 1] Republic of China [note 1] | Controlled by India but claimed by Zanda County, Ngari Prefecture, Tibet, China. Disputed areas located between Aksai Chin and Nepal. |
3,700 square miles (9,600 km2) of territory surrounding the Siachen Glacier in Gilgit-Baltistan [81] | Pakistan India Republic of China [note 1] [note 2] | The People's Republic of China relinquished its claim to Pakistan. India and the Republic of China did not. |
James Shoal | Malaysia China [note 1] Republic of China [note 1] | The Republic of China would claim its southernmost point to be at 4°N. |
North Cyprus | Northern Cyprus Cyprus | Northern Cyprus (a state with limited recognition) controls and administers the northern part of the island. The Republic of Cyprus claims the whole island. |
Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, western half of Heixiazi, and Macclesfield Bank | China [note 1] Republic of China [note 1] | |
Moldovan-controlled area of Dubăsari district | Moldova Transnistria | |
Kokkina/Erenköy exclave | Northern Cyprus Cyprus | Northern Cyprus controls and administers Kokkina, an area separated from the rest of the main land on Northern Cyprus via the land controlled by the Republic of Cyprus. |
Heixiazi / Bolshoy Ussuriysky Island (eastern half) | Russia Republic of China [note 2] | Generally held to have been resolved in October 2004 by the Complementary Agreement between the People's Republic of China and the Russian Federation on the Eastern Section of the China-Russia Boundary. However, the settlement is not recognized by the Republic of China, which would claim its easternmost point to be at 135°4′E. [note 2] |
Jiangxinpo | Myanmar Republic of China [note 2] | Northern parts of Sagaing Region and Kachin State, claimed by the Republic of China as part of Yunnan. Formerly claimed by the People's Republic of China until 1961. |
537 km2 of territory on the China–Kazakhstan border | Kazakhstan Republic of China [note 1] [note 2] | The Kazakh Government ceded 407 km2 to the PRC, and the PRC ceded 537 km2 to Kazakhstan in 1999. However, the settlement is not recognized by the Republic of China. [note 2] |
Khan Tengri peak, the Boz-Tik site, the Bedel pass, and the Erkeshtam pass [83] | Kyrgyzstan Republic of China [note 1] [note 2] | In an agreement signed in 1999, the Khan Tengri peak, the Boz-Tik site, the Bedel pass, and the Erkeshtam pass were ceded to the Kyrgyz government while the Uzongu-Kuush valley was ceded to the PRC. However, the settlement is not recognized by the Republic of China. [note 2] |
Kinmen, Matsu, Pratas Island, and the Vereker Banks | Republic of China [84] [note 1] China [85] [note 1] | The government of the People's Republic of China claims the entire island of Taiwan, as well as a number of minor islands, such as Penghu, Kinmen, and Matsu, that are controlled by the Republic of China. See also: Anti-Secession Law, Political status of Taiwan. |
Kosovo | Kosovo Serbia | Kosovo is the subject of a territorial dispute between the Republic of Serbia and the self-proclaimed Republic of Kosovo. The latter declared independence on 17 February 2008, while Serbia claims it as part of its own sovereign territory. Its independence is recognized by 104 UN member states. |
Kula Kangri and mountainous areas to the west of this peak, plus the western Haa District of Bhutan | Bhutan China [note 1] Republic of China [note 1] | |
Kutuzov Island | Russia Republic of China [note 2] | |
Namwan Assigned Tract | Myanmar Republic of China [note 2] | Settled by Myanmar and the PRC in the Sino-Burmese Boundary Treaty in 1960 and officially ceded to Myanmar in 1961. [86] However, the settlement is not recognized by the Republic of China. [note 2] |
Outer Mongolia | Mongolia Republic of China [note 1] | Constitution of the Republic of China, the ROC claim on Mongolia cannot be withdrawn without recourse to a referendum. This claim is expressed by the map of China which appears in the flag of the Republic of China Marine Corps since 1986, which comprises Mainland China, Jiangxinpo, Outer Mongolia, Pamir Mountains, Tannu Uriankhai, etc. [87] | The Republic of China briefly recognized Mongolia's independence between 1945 and 1952, and from 2002 onwards; however, under the
Pamir Mountains | Tajikistan Republic of China [note 1] [note 2] | The Tajik Government ceded 1,158 km2 to the PRC, while PRC relinquished its 73,000 km2 claim over the remaining territory with final ratification of a treaty in January 2011. [88] [note 2] However, the settlement is not recognized by the Republic of China, which would claim its westernmost point to be at 71°E along the Panj. [note 2] |
Paracel Islands [1] | China [note 1] Republic of China [note 1] Vietnam | Entirely controlled by the People's Republic of China but claimed by the Republic of China and Vietnam. [89] |
Parangcho [90] | South Korea China Republic of China [note 2] | |
Rasu, Kimathanka, Nara Pass, Tingribode, and Mount Everest | Nepal Republic of China [note 2] | Settled by Nepal and the PRC in 1960. [91] However, the settlement is not recognized by the Republic of China. [note 2] |
Scarborough Shoal | China [note 1] Republic of China [note 1] Philippines | Controlled by the PRC since the 2012 Scarborough Shoal standoff. |
Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary [92] | Bhutan China [note 1] Republic of China [note 1] | |
Senkaku Islands (Diaoyu Tai or Diaoyu Dao) [1] | Japan China [note 1] Republic of China [note 1] | Controlled by Japan but claimed by the PRC and ROC. [93] |
Sixty-Four Villages East of the River | Russia Republic of China [note 2] | The People's Republic of China renounced the area in the 1991 Sino-Soviet Border Agreement. Yet the Republic of China would claim the area per the 1858 Treaty of Aigun, affirmed as part of the 1860 Sino-Russian Convention of Peking. |
South Ossetia | South Ossetia Georgia | |
Spratly Islands | China [note 1] Republic of China [note 1] Vietnam Philippines (part) Malaysia (part) Brunei (part) | Each of the claimant countries except Brunei controls one or more of the individual islands. |
'Border' checkpoint near Strovilia | United Kingdom Northern Cyprus | Northern Cyprus controls and administers the border checkpoint near Strovilia. UK's claim in regard to its Sovereign Base Areas. This also involves Cyprus; the checkpoint is partially on UN-administered land, and Cyprus claims all of the island. (See: Europe) |
Taiwan and Penghu | Republic of China [note 1] China [note 1] | In 1945, after the surrender of Japan, the Republic of China unilaterally annexed the islands of Taiwan and Penghu into its Taiwan Province, a move not recognized by the Allies. Shortly before the cessation of hostiles in the Chinese Civil War, the ROC government withdrew to the island of Taiwan, which remained under military occupation. Japan formally relinquished the claims to Taiwan and Penghu in 1952 under the Treaty of San Francisco. The sovereignty of Taiwan has remained in question to this day. See also the Political status of Taiwan. |
Trans-Karakoram Tract, including Shaksgam Valley | China [note 1] Republic of China [note 1] India | Pakistan was originally a party to the dispute but relinquished its claim and accepted Chinese sovereignty over the area in 1963. |
Transnistria (including Bender) | Transnistria Moldova | |
Tannu Uriankhai | Russia Republic of China [note 1] | Originally part of China during the Qing dynasty per the 1727 Treaty of Kyakhta but came under Russian influence in the 20th century. Sovereignty over the area has not been officially relinquished by the ROC, which would claim its northernmost point to be at 53°57'N in the Sayan Mountains. However, the claim is not actively pursued by the ROC government. |
Tumen River (disputed sovereignty of certain islands) [1] [note 3] | China [note 1] North Korea Republic of China [note 1] [note 2] South Korea | The Republic of China would consider the 1909 Gando Convention as the basis of the China–North Korea border. |
Tumen River mouth | North Korea South Korea Republic of China [note 2] | Navigation and control of the mouth of the river Tumen is disputed between the Republic of China and DPRK along with the Republic of Korea. |
Varnita and Copanca | Moldova Transnistria | |
Eastern part of Wakhan Corridor | Afghanistan Republic of China [note 2] | The border was established between Afghanistan and China in an agreement between the British and the Russians in 1895 as part of the Great Game, although the Chinese and Afghans did not finally agree on the border until 1963. [94] [95] The Kingdom of Afghanistan and the People's Republic of China demarcated their border in 1963. [94] [96] [note 2] However, the settlement is not recognized by the Republic of China. [note 2] |
Western Sahara | Morocco Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic | The United Nations keeps the Western Sahara in its list of non-self-governing territories and considers the sovereignty issue as unresolved pending a final solution. To that end, the UN sent a mission in the territory to oversee a referendum on self-determination in 1991, but it never happened. Administration was relinquished by Spain in 1976. |
Yalu River (disputed sovereignty of certain islands) [1] [note 3] | China [note 1] North Korea Republic of China [note 1] [note 2] South Korea | Generally held to have been resolved in 2005. North Korea is allocated all of the large islands in the lower Yalu River, including Pidan and Sindo at the mouth. [97] The river's maritime rights remain shared between North Korea and the PRC. However, the settlement is not recognized by the Republic of China. [note 2] |
Territory | Country | Internal claimants | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Several islands in the Paraná River | Argentina | Entre Ríos Santa Fe | Islands: Isla de los Mástiles/La Carlota, Isla Ingeniero Sabino Corsi Norte/Sur and Isla General Juan Pistarini. |
As much as a 2,821 square kilometres (1,089 sq mi) area in and around the Ibiapaba mountain range | Brazil | Ceará Piauí | This dispute originated in an 1880 imperial decree. In 1920 a solution to the dispute was arbitrated but in practice it was never carried out. In 2008 there were new attempted negotiations, but they broke down in 2011, and as of 2013 it is pending either a supreme court decision, a referendum or a possible mutual agreement. [98] |
Fernando de Noronha | Pernambuco Rio Grande do Norte | The dispute dates from the colonial period. [99] | |
Belén de Bajirá | Colombia | Antioquia Chocó | Disputed since 2000, both Departments of Antioquia and Chocó have claimed the corregimiento as part of their own respective municipalities. In 2014, amidst a rise of tensions between the claimants, the National Government under the Geographic Institute Agustín Codazzi formally started a process to find a solution for the dispute. [100] |
The kebeles of Adaytu, Undufo, and Gedamaytu | Ethiopia | Afar Somali Region | Issa clan Somalis, backed by the Somali Region government, against the Afar Region and Afar-allied militants. In 2014, the border between the two regions was redrawn by the federal government, placing the three ethnic Somali towns inside the Afar region. In the same year, the presidents of the two regions signed an agreement recognizing the three kebeles as special kebeles within the Afar Region which was rejected by the local people. [101] [102] Later in 2019, the Somali Region withdrew from the agreement, claiming the three areas again. [103] The conflict between the two people has also spilled over into Djibouti. [104] | The three towns have long been fought over by the
Parts of the Baitarani River in Jharkhand | India | Jharkhand Odisha | [105] |
Small areas in Balasore district and Mayurbhanj district | Odisha West Bengal | [105] | |
Belgaum | Karnataka Maharashtra | Belgaum district was made a part of the Karnataka state following the States Reorganisation Act, 1956. However, Maharashtra claims the district and surrounding areas as predominantly Marathi-speaking and should be merged with Maharashtra. [106] | |
Golaghat district, Jorhat district, and Sibsagar district | Assam Nagaland | [107] | |
Kotia villages in Koraput district | Odisha Andhra Pradesh | [105] | |
Langpih, Borduar, Nongwah, Matamur, Deshdemoreah Block I and Block II, and Khanduli | Assam Meghalaya | [108] | |
Lushai Hills | Assam Mizoram | [109] | |
Villages in Nabarangpur and Jharsuguda districts | Odisha Chhattisgarh | [105] | |
Phuldungsei | Tripura Mizoram | [110] | |
Disputed territories of Northern Iraq | Iraq | Iraq proper Iraqi Kurdistan | Iraq's autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan claims and controls parts of the governorates of Nineveh, Arbil, Kirkuk and Diyala. |
Put Point | Mexico | Campeche Quintana Roo Yucatán | The three states claim three different borders between them.[ citation needed ] |
Fiat Auto Poland factory and nearest areas | Poland | Tychy Bieruń | The territory has historically been a part of the town of Bieruń. In years 1975–1991 Bieruń was a part of Tychy. The Fiat Auto Poland (formerly FSM factory) remaining in Tychy was a condition of Bieruń's separation. In the 90s, Bieruń has regained the Homera osiedle which was part of the disputed area. [111] |
Treviño enclave dispute | Spain | Province of Burgos Álava | The municipalities of Condado de Treviño and La Puebla de Arganzón are part of the Province of Burgos within the Castille and Léon community, whilst being completely surrounded by the Province of Álava within the Basque Country, being one of the few internal territorial discontinuities to survive the 1833 reorganization of Spanish internal divisions. The Basque claim the territory on cultural and territorial continuity grounds, while the Castillians argue for the status quo on historical grounds. |
A wide section from the 35th parallel north to 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) south. | United States | Tennessee Georgia | Based on an inaccurate measurement in 1818, the Georgia–Tennessee border does not match the 35th parallel, which was defined as the border by Congress in 1796. Georgia's claim would give it access to the Tennessee River and mitigate the impact of a severe drought. [112] See Tennessee–Georgia water dispute . |
California–Oregon border | Oregon California | Location errors in an 1868–1870 survey to demarcate the California–Oregon border created a dispute between Oregon and California, which upon statehood had established the 42nd parallel north as its de jure border, based on the 1819 Adams–Onís Treaty between the U.S. and Spain. The dispute continues to this day, as there are about 31,000 acres (13,000 ha) of disputed territory administered by Oregon, and about 20,000 acres (8,100 ha) administered by California. [113] The border should follow the 42nd parallel straight west from the 120th meridian west to the Pacific. Instead it zigzags, and only one of the many surveyor's markers put down in 1868 actually is on the 42nd parallel. [114] [115] [116] | |
New Mexico–Texas Panhandle border | Texas New Mexico | The border was defined as the 103rd meridian but an 1859 survey marked it too far west, mistakenly putting present-day towns of Farwell, Texline, and a part of Glenrio in Texas. New Mexico's draft constitution used the 103rd meridian as intended. The New Mexico Senate passed a bill to file a lawsuit to recover the strip, but it has not become law. [117] The land and towns are administered by Texas. |
Territory | Former claimants | Dispute started | Dispute settled | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Ghana-Cote d'Ivoire maritime border | Ghana | 2007 | 2017 | Dispute over maritime border. [118] [119] |
Chagos Archipelago | Mauritius United Kingdom | 1968 | 2024 | In October 2024, the United Kingdom announced it would hand over sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius subject to finalisation of a treaty. |
Agacher Strip | Burkina Faso Mali | c. 1960 | 1986 | Following repeated military clashes between Burkina Faso and Mali over the Agacher Strip, the International Court of Justice resolved the conflict in 1986 by dividing the disputed area approximately equally between the two countries. [120] |
Aouzou Strip, Libya–Chad Borderlands | Chad Libya | c. 1973 | 1994 | In 1994 the International Court of Justice decision found in favour of Chad sovereignty over the Aouzou Strip and the Libya–Chad Borderlands, and ended the Libyan claim. |
Badme | Ethiopia Eritrea | 1993 | 2018 | Basis of the Eritrean-Ethiopian War which began in 1998. The territory was handed over to Eritrea following a joint statement at the Eritrea–Ethiopia summit in 2018. |
Bakassi | Cameroon Nigeria | 1913 | 2006 | This area was handed over by Nigeria to Cameroon following an International Court of Justice ruling and the Greentree Agreement. |
Bure | Ethiopia Eritrea [121] | 2002 | 2008 | Eritrea has accepted the decision and no longer disputes this location. [122] |
Burkina Faso–Niger border dispute | Burkina Faso Niger | c. 1960 | 2013 | The International Court of Justice redefined the border between Burkina Faso and Niger in 2013. In 2015 the ruling was implemented by exchanging 18 towns between the two countries. [123] |
Kagera Salient | Tanzania Uganda | 1978 | 1979 | In October 1978 Uganda invaded the Kagera Salient in northern Tanzania, initiating the Uganda–Tanzania War. The Ugandans met light resistance and in November President Idi Amin of Uganda announced the annexation of all Tanzanian land north of the Kagera River. The Tanzanians organised a counter-offensive later in November and successfully ejected the Ugandan forces from their country. |
Part of the Kahemba region | Angola Democratic Republic of Congo | 2007 | 2007 | Following a March 2007 report on the disputed area on the joint border in the Kahemba region, the Congolese interior minister admitted the territory was in fact part of Angola and agreed to send a technical team to demarcate the border along colonial era lines. [124] The countries agreed to end the dispute in July 2007. [125] |
Migingo Island vicinity, and, farther north, the vicinity of the islands of Lolwe, Oyasi, Remba, Ringiti and Sigulu , all a maritime rights dispute in Lake Victoria. | Kenya Uganda | 2008 | 2009 | In 2009, Migingo Island became a disputed territory when Uganda raised its national flag. The dispute is related to fishing rights in Lake Victoria. Before 2004 the island was uninhabited, but it is now home to Kenyan and Ugandan fishermen. [126] A joint re-demarcation line of the border was launched on 2 June 2009 to recover and to place survey markers on land, making delineation of the boundary on the lake more precise, with results released in late July 2009 confirming that the island falls 510 metres (1,670 ft) on the Kenyan side of the line. [127] |
Lété Island and nearby islands in the Niger River | Niger Benin | c. 1960 | 2005 | In 2005 the International Court of Justice awarded Lété and 15 of the other disputed islands to Niger, and the remaining nine islands to Benin. [128] |
Sedudu | Botswana Namibia | 1890 | 1999 | In 1999 the International Court of Justice awarded Sedudu to Botswana, ending the Namibian claim. [129] |
Tindouf Province | Algeria Morocco | 1956 | 1970 | Morocco ( influenced by the Greater Morocco ideology ) claimed that both Tindouf and Béchar historically belong to Morocco after they were annexed by France for the French colony of Algeria. Algeria wasn't supporting the claims since one of the FLN's primary objectives was to prevent France from splitting the strategic Sahara regions from a future Algerian state. It was therefore disinclined to support Morocco's historical claims to Tindouf and Bechar or the concept of a Greater Morocco. King Hassan II of Morocco visited Algiers in March 1963 to discuss the undefined borders, but Algeria's President Ahmed Ben Bella believed the matter should be resolved at a later date. Ben Bella's fledgling administration was still attempting to rebuild the country after the enormous damage caused by the Algerian War. Algerian authorities suspected that Morocco was inciting the revolt, while Hassan was anxious about his own opposition's reverence for Algeria, escalating tensions between the nations. These factors prompted Hassan to begin moving troops towards Tindouf leading to the Sand war which ended with no territorial changes. [130] [131] [132] |
Tsorona-Zalambessa | Ethiopia Eritrea [121] | 2002 | 2008 | Eritrea has accepted the decision and no longer disputes this location. [122] |
Yenga (border hamlet), and left bank of Moa river | Sierra Leone Guinea | c. 1995 | 2013 | The two heads of state settled this dispute in 2013. [133] |
Territory | Former claimants | Dispute started | Dispute settled | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Alaska boundary dispute | United States Canada | 1821 | 1903 | Disputed between the United States and Canada (then a British Dominion with its foreign affairs controlled from London). The dispute had been going on between the Russian and British Empires since 1821, and was inherited by the United States as a consequence of the Alaska Purchase in 1867. It was resolved by arbitration in 1903 with a delegation that included 3 Americans, 2 Canadians, and 1 British delegate that became the swing vote. By a 4 to 2 vote, the final resolution favored the American position. Canada did not get an outlet from the Yukon gold fields to the sea. The disappointment and anger in Canada was directed less at the United States, and more at the British government for betraying Canadian interests in pursuit of a friendly relationship between Britain and the United States. |
Aroostook War | United States British North America | 1838 | 1842 | Disputed border between the state of Maine and the provinces of New Brunswick and Lower Canada. |
Aves Island | Venezuela Dominica | 1584 | 2007 | Dominica abandoned the claim to the island in 2007, but continues to claim the adjacent seas, as do some neighboring states. |
Atacama border dispute | Bolivia Chile | 1879 | 1904 | |
Guaíra Falls | Brazil Paraguay | 1872 | 1982 | The disputed islands were submerged by the reservoir of Itaipú. |
Chamizal dispute | United States Mexico | 1898 | 1963 | Disputed border within the El Paso/Ciudad Juárez region. |
Cresap's War | Maryland Pennsylvania | 1730 | 1767 | Dispute over the northern border of the Province of Maryland and southern border of Province of Pennsylvania, particularly west of the Susquehanna River. Settled by the drawing of the Mason–Dixon line. |
New Hampshire Grants/Vermont | New Hampshire New York Vermont | 1749 | 1791 | In 1664 King Charles II decided the west bank of the Connecticut River was the eastern boundary of New York, so that that province included all of what later became the state of Vermont. During 1749–64, Governor Benning Wentworth of New Hampshire issued well over a hundred "grants", offering lands for sale west of the river in what would become Vermont. In 1764, King George III attempted to end the dispute by ruling that the region belonged to New York. But New York would not recognize the property claims of numerous settlers whose claims were based on Wentworth's grants, so local governments and militias resisted New York's rule. In 1777, the politicians of the disputed territory declared it independent of New York, Britain, and New Hampshire, calling it the State of Vermont. Vermont existed for 14 years as an unrecognized de facto independent country, considered by New York to be a district in rebellion. Negotiations between New York and Vermont in 1790 removed impediments to Vermont's admission to the Union in 1791. |
Delaware Wedge | Delaware Maryland Pennsylvania | 1750s | 1921 | A gore created when the borders of the colonies Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania were defined. Dispute over the borders between the three colonies dates to the foundation of each during the middle 17th century. A series of defined lines and arcs were laid out by statute to settle the disputes, the most famous of which was the Mason–Dixon line. The Wedge was left out of all three colonies (and later U.S. states), and remained a matter of dispute until it was formally resolved to assign the Wedge to Delaware in 1921. |
Eastern shore of the Narragansett Bay | Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations Plymouth Colony (to 1691) Province of Massachusetts Bay (from 1691) | 1636 | 1898 | Claimed by both Rhode Island and Plymouth Colony. Plymouth's claim was inherited by the newly created Province of Massachusetts Bay when the latter was created in 1691 from the merger of earlier Massachusetts Bay and Plymouth Colonies. A royal decree in 1746 assigned the land to Rhode Island, but Massachusetts continued to press its claim until 1898. |
New York – New Jersey Line War | New York New Jersey | 1701 | 1756 | Dispute over the southern border of Province of New York and the northern border of the Province of New Jersey. Raiding parties kidnapped and burned crops. |
Isla Martín García | Argentina Uruguay | 1879 | 1973 | After the Conquest of the Desert was launched in 1879, many indigenous leaders captured were confined there. The island was transferred to Argentine Navy jurisdiction in 1886. The island's distance from the Uruguayan territory is less than 3 km, and its jurisdictional status was formally established by the Treaty of Río de la Plata between Uruguay and Argentina on November 19, 1973. |
Cordillera del Cóndor-Cenepa River | Peru Ecuador | 1828 | 1998 | |
Caquetá-Putumayo | Peru Colombia | 1821 | 1934 | |
Acre-Pando | Peru Bolivia | 1825 | 1909 | |
Cordillera of the Andes Boundary Case | Argentina Chile | 1881 | 1902 | After the signature of the Boundary treaty of 1881 between Chile and Argentina differing interpretations on whether the highest Andean peaks (favouring Argentina) or the continental divide (favouring Chile) was to be considered the boundary. |
Puna de Atacama dispute | Argentina Chile | 1889 | 1898 | |
Clipperton Island | Mexico France | 1897 | 1931 | Disputed between France and Mexico. On January 28, 1931, King Victor Emanuel, selected as a neutral arbitrator, finally declared Clipperton to be a French possession, and it has remained relatively undisputed ever since. |
Beagle conflict | Argentina Chile | 1898 | 1982 | |
Río Encuentro-Alto Palena dispute | Argentina Chile | 1913 | 1966 | |
Pirara dispute | British Guiana Brazil | 1842 | 1904 | Victor Emmanuel III of Italy to resolve the Pirara Question, in which 19,630 square kilometres (7,580 sq mi) would be handed over to British Guiana, and 13,570 square kilometres (5,240 sq mi) would be returned to Brazil, thus defining the limits of the border. [134] | In 1842, a Brazilian ambassador went to London to suggest that the dispute be submitted to neutral arbitration. The United Kingdom and Brazil signed a treaty on November 6, 1901, agreeing to arbitration to establish the boundary between northern Brazil and British Guiana. A decision was taken by King
Laguna del Desierto | Argentina Chile | 1949 | 1994 | |
Missouri | United States Confederate States | 1861 | 1865 | After the Missouri secession, the State of Missouri was claimed by both the United States and Confederate States until the defeat of the Confederacy in the American Civil War |
Border of New Hampshire and Canada | United States United Kingdom | 1783 | 1842 | Ill-defined terms of the Treaty of Paris at the end of the Revolutionary War left the boundary of the state of New Hampshire and Canada in doubt. The lack of a precise definition of the "northwesternmost head of the Connecticut River" as defined by the Treaty of Paris left the land that is now the town of Pittsburg, New Hampshire within the conflicting jurisdiction of both the United States and Great Britain. In 1832 residents of the area established the short-lived Republic of Indian Stream in the area; the minuscule population of the putative nation never exceeded about 300. The boundary was finally settled definitively by the Webster–Ashburton Treaty of 1842. |
Southern edge of Labrador | Canada | Newfoundland and Labrador Quebec | 1927 | This was formerly an international dispute between Canada, which includes Quebec, and the Dominion of Newfoundland, then an independent country. The case came before the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London, which in March 1927 delivered a win for Newfoundland and granted it the disputed land. The decision was further recognized by the governments of Canada and of Newfoundland when the latter joined Confederation in 1949 as the tenth province of Canada. Quebec has never accepted the border. |
Sverdrup Islands | Norway United Kingdom | 1928 | 1930 | In 1928 Norway asserted its claim of sovereignty over the Sverdrup Islands. The islands are named after Norwegian explorer Otto Sverdrup, who explored and mapped them from 1898 to 1902 with the vessel Fram , although some were previously inhabited by Inuit. Sverdrup claimed the islands for Norway, but the Norwegian government did not pursue the claim until 1928. At that point, the Norwegian government raised the claim, primarily to use the islands as bargaining chips in negotiations with the United Kingdom over the status of the Arctic island Jan Mayen and the Antarctic Bouvet Island. On November 11, 1930, Norway ceded the Sverdrup Islands to Canada, in exchange for British recognition of Norway's sovereignty over Jan Mayen. [135] |
San Andrés and Providencia, Bajo Nuevo Bank, and Serranilla Bank | Colombia Nicaragua Jamaica | 1886 | 2012 [136] | Jamaica implicitly withdrew its claim by accepting the nautical chart affixed to a 1993 treaty that established a Joint Regime Area with Colombia, excluding Bajo Nuevo Bank and Serranilla Bank. [137] Honduras and the United States continue to dispute sovereignty over both banks. |
Tacna–Arica compromise | Chile Peru | 1883 | 1929 | |
Pacific Ocean Sea border | Chile Peru | 1985 | 2014 [138] | Part of the broader territorial dispute. |
Erik the Red's Land | Denmark Norway Iceland [139] | 1931 | 1933 [140] | |
Isla Portillos | Costa Rica Nicaragua | 2010 | 2018 | On 2 Feb 2018, the ICJ rendered a decision in a border dispute between Nicaragua and Costa Rica regarding Isla Portillos . Nicaragua was left with just the Laguna Los Portillos and its short strip of beach. The court also decided that the sea just outside of the lagoon would be Costa Rican waters. The ICJ concluded that the whole beach is Costa Rican except for the part directly between the lagoon and the Caribbean Sea – now a tiny enclave of Nicaraguan territory separated from the rest of the country. [141] |
Hans Island | Canada Denmark ( Greenland) | 1972 | 2022 | Claimed by both Canada and the Kingdom of Denmark (on behalf of Greenland). Resolved by treaty splitting the island between Canada and Greenland. [142] |
Oyster Pond | Netherlands France | 2016 | 2023 | Claimed by both The Kingdom of the Netherlands (on behalf of Sint Maarten) and France (on behalf of Saint Martin). [143] [144] [145] [146] Resolved by agreement splitting the bay in the middle. [147] |
Territory | Former claimants | Dispute started | Dispute settled | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Bouvet Island | Norway United Kingdom | 1927 | 1929 | The United Kingdom claimed this Antarctic island as Lindsay/Liverpool Island based on sightings going back to 1808, but Norway landed there in 1927. In November 1929, Britain renounced its claim to the island. [148] |
Territory | Former claimants | Dispute started | Dispute settled | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Israeli–Lebanese maritime border | Israel Lebanon | 2010 | 2022 | |
Katchatheevu | Sri Lanka India | 1921 | 1974 | The dispute on the status of the island of Kachatheevu was settled in 1974 by an agreement between both countries. [149] But still some cases are ongoing in High Court of Madras which are filed earlier regarding this dispute stating as illegally issued to Sri Lanka. [150] Several actions were still taken by the union government of India to retrieve that island back to Indian territory once again. [151] |
Great Rann of Kutch | India Pakistan | 1965 | 1968 | In January 1965, Pakistan claimed the area of the Great Rann of Kutch on the basis of the Sindh province, [152] eventually launching an operation in the area in April 1965. Later the same year, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Harold Wilson persuaded the combatants to end hostilities and establish a tribunal to resolve the dispute. A verdict was reached in 1968 which saw Pakistan getting 10% of its claim of 9,100 square kilometres (3,500 sq mi). 90% was awarded to India, although India claimed 100% of the region. |
Tiran and Sanafir Islands | Saudi Arabia Egypt Israel | 1906 | 2017 | These islands were transferred to Saudi Arabia in 2017. |
Arabi Island and Farsi Island | Iran Saudi Arabia | 1968 | 1968 | These islands were disputed between Iran and Saudi Arabia. In 1968 Iran and Saudi Arabia had an agreement that Farsi island be given to Iran and Arabi island be given to Saudi Arabia. |
Bay of Bengal Maritime Boundary between Bangladesh and India | India Bangladesh | 1974 | 2014 | India and Bangladesh had engaged in eight rounds of bilateral negotiations starting 1974 but it remained inconclusive until 2009. In October 2009, Bangladesh served India with notice of arbitration proceedings under the UNCLOS.The Arbitration Tribunal delivered the ruling on 7 July 2014 and settled the dispute. [153] |
Indo-Bangladesh enclaves, adverse possessions and undemarcated land boundaries | India Bangladesh | 1947 | 2015 | Following Partition of Bengal (1947), the issues of adverse possessions, enclaves and unmarked boundary arose. Inside the main part of Bangladesh, there were 111 Indian enclaves (69.45 km2), while inside the main part of India, there were 51 Bangladeshi enclaves (28.77 km2). In 1974 Bangladesh approved a proposed treaty, Land Boundary Agreement, to exchange all enclaves within each other's territories, but India did not ratify it. Another agreement was agreed upon in 2011 to exchange enclaves and adverse possessions. With respect to adverse possessions, India received 7,110.2 acres of land and transferred 17,160.63 acres to Bangladesh. India ratified the agreement by constitutional amendment in May 2015. [154] |
Muhurichar river island | India Bangladesh | 1974 | 2011 | Historically controlled by India but claimed by Bangladesh, disputed from approximately 1974. [155] An agreement was reached on the demarcation of the border in the area in 2011, [156] and in 2019 the Indian government confirmed that it no longer had any outstanding boundary dispute with Bangladesh. [157] |
South Talpatti/New Moore/Purbasha Island | India Bangladesh | 1975 | 2010 | This former dispute over a small island never more than two meters above sea level was contested from the island's appearance in the 1970s to its disappearance, likely due to climate change, [158] in the first decade of the 2000s. Though land disputes no longer exist, the maritime boundary was not settled until 2014. [159] [160] [161] |
North Sakhalin Island | Russian Empire Empire of Japan | 1845 | 1875 | Japan unilaterally proclaimed sovereignty over the whole island in 1845, but its claims were ignored by the Russian Empire. The 1855 Treaty of Shimoda acknowledged that both Russia and Japan had joint rights of occupation to Sakhalin, without setting a definite territorial demarcation. As the island became settled in the 1860s and 1870s, this ambiguity led to increasing friction between settlers. Attempts by the Tokugawa shogunate to purchase the entire island from the Russian Empire failed, and the new Meiji government was unable to negotiate a partition of the island into separate territories.In 1875 by the Treaty of Saint Petersburg, Japan agreed to give up its claims on Sakhalin in exchange for undisputed ownership of the Kuril Islands. In 1905 under the Treaty of Portsmouth Japan gained Sakhalin to the 50th parallel, but lost it again in 1945. |
Palmas Island (modern-day Miangas Island) | Philippines Dutch East Indies | 1906 | 1928 | Dispute between the United States and the Netherlands over the Palmas island located south of the Philippines, which was then American territory. The Netherlands believed that the islands were part of the Dutch East Indies. The territorial dispute was solved through the Island of Palmas case which decided that the Palmas Island belongs to the Netherlands. Palmas Island, now Miangas Island, is a part of modern Indonesia. |
Trans-Karakoram Tract, including Shaksgam Valley | Pakistan (still claimed by: India People's Republic of China [note 1] Republic of China [note 1] ) | 1947 | 1963 | Pakistan relinquished its claim to the People's Republic of China; India did not. |
Sinai Peninsula | Israel Egypt | 1967 | 1982 | During the Six-Day War Israel claimed Sinai. It was returned in 1982 under the terms of the 1979 Egypt–Israel peace treaty. |
Taba | Israel Egypt | 1979 | 1989 | When Egypt and Israel were negotiating the exact position of the border in preparation for the 1979 peace treaty, Israel claimed that Taba had been on the Ottoman side of a border agreed between the Ottomans and British Egypt in 1906 and had, therefore, been in error in its two previous agreements. Although most of Sinai was returned to Egypt in 1982, Taba was the last portion to be returned. The issue was submitted to an international commission. In 1988, the commission ruled in Egypt's favour, and Israel returned Taba to Egypt in 1989. |
Phú Quốc island and Thổ Chu Islands area | Vietnam Cambodia | 1939 | 1982 | In 1939, Governor General of Indochina, Jules Brévié, sent a letter to the Governor of Cochinchina about “the issue of the islands in the Gulf of Siam whose is a matter of controversy between Cambodia and Cochin-China”. In this letter,“for administrative purposes”, he drew a line which defined the border between the waters of Cambodia and Cochin-China: all the islands north of the line are under Cambodian sovereignty, all the islands south of the line are ruled by Cochin-China. As a result, Phú Quốc was under Cochinchina administration. In 1949, Cochin-China became part of Vietnam, an Associated State in the French Union within the Indochinese Federation. After the Geneva Accords, in 1954, its sovereignty was handed over to the State of Vietnam. In 1964, then Head of State Prince Norodom Sihanouk proposed to the Vietnamese a map aimed at settling the issue. Cambodia offered to accept the colonial “Brévié Line” as the maritime boundary, thus abandoning its claim. That position of Cambodia was confirmed by maps given to the mission sent by the UN Security Council after the Chantrea incidents. On June 8, 1967, the Vietnamese issued a declaration that accepted the “Brévié Line” as the maritime border. On May 1, 1975, a squad of Khmer Rouge soldiers raided and took Phú Quốc, but Vietnam soon recaptured it. This was to be the first of a series of incursions and counter-incursions that would escalate to the Cambodian–Vietnamese War in 1979. Cambodia dropped its claims to Phú Quốc in 1976. [162] But the bone of contention involving the island between the governments of the two countries continued, as both have a historical claim to it and the surrounding waters. A July 1982 agreement between Vietnam and the People's Republic of Kampuchea ostensibly settled the dispute; however, it is still the object of irredentist sentiments. |
Turtle Islands | Philippine Islands North Borneo | 1930 | 1930 | Dispute between the United States and the United Kingdom over the Turtle Islands located south of the Philippines, which was then American territory. In a 1930 treaty the United Kingdom acknowledged American sovereignty over the islands and was agreed upon that the British would remain administering the island until the United States express interest to take over control over the islands after a one-year notice. When the Philippines gained full independence from the United States in 1946, the Philippines invoked the treaty and the British turned over the islands to the Philippines in 1947. |
West Bank, including East Jerusalem | Israel Jordan | 1967 | 1988 | During the Six-Day War, Israel conquered these territories from Jordan. Jordan later renounced the claim on the territory, supporting instead its inclusion in a future Palestine. |
Ligitan and Sipadan | Malaysia Indonesia | 1969 | 2002 | The 2002 International Court of Justice ruling awarded both islands to Malaysia, but left unsettled the maritime boundary immediately southwest and west of the islands between Malaysia and Indonesia. |
Hawar Islands | Qatar Bahrain | 1971 | 2001 | Formerly disputed between Qatar and Bahrain, it was settled by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague. In the June 2001 decision, Bahrain kept the Hawar Islands and Qit'at Jaradah but dropped claims to Janan Island and Zubarah on mainland Qatar, while Qatar retained significant maritime areas and their resources. The agreement has furthered the goal of definitively establishing the border with Saudi Arabia and Saudi-led mediation efforts continue. |
Batek Island | Indonesia East Timor | 2002 | 2004 | Ceded by Timor-Leste to Indonesia in August 2004. |
11,000 square miles (28,000 km2) of territory in Xinjiang [81] | Pakistan (still claimed by: People's Republic of China [note 1] Republic of China [note 1] ) | 1947 | 1963 | Pakistan relinquished its claim to the People's Republic of China. |
Aksai Chin [20] | Pakistan (still claimed by: India People's Republic of China [note 1] Republic of China [note 1] ) | 1947 | 1963 | Pakistan relinquished its claim to the People's Republic of China; India did not. |
Demchok sector | Pakistan (still claimed by: India People's Republic of China [note 1] Republic of China [note 1] ) | 1947 | 1963 | Claimed as part of the princely state of Kashmir. |
Chumar [81] | Pakistan (still claimed by: India People's Republic of China [note 1] Republic of China [note 1] ) | 1947 | 1963 | Claimed as part of the princely state of Kashmir. Pakistan relinquished its claim to the People's Republic of China; India did not. |
3,700 square miles (9,600 km2) of territory in Gilgit-Baltistan, and the Siachen Glacier [81] | Pakistan People's Republic of China [note 1] Republic of China [note 1] ) India | 1960 | 1963 | The People's Republic of China relinquished its claim to Pakistan. India and the Republic of China did not. |
Saudi Arabia–Yemen border demarcation dispute | Saudi Arabia Yemen | 1934 | 2000 | Settled by the Treaty of Jeddah (2000). |
Limbang District | Malaysia Brunei | 1967 | 2010 | Limbang District was part of Brunei until it was forced to cede it to the Raj of Sarawak in 1890. Since then Brunei is divided territorially into two. It was claimed by Brunei in 1967 in order to reconnect the country. It forms the main part of the Brunei–Malaysia border#Disputes. Malaysia claimed to settle the issue in 2009, however this was disputed by Brunei. Malaysia in 2010 ceded two hydrocarbon concession blocks to Brunei in exchange for Brunei dropping claims to Limbang. [20] |
Hanish Islands | Yemen Eritrea | 1995 | 1999 | In December 1995, Eritrea entered into a dispute with Yemen over claims to the Hanish Islands and fishing rights in the Red Sea. This dispute was resolved in 1999 when the islands were awarded to Yemen through international arbitration, and the Eritreans complied with the verdict. |
Shatt al-Arab | Iran Iraq | 1936 | 1988 | Settled by the 1975 Algiers Agreement. Reneged on by Iraq in 1980, but re-agreed to in 1988. |
Makati–Taguig boundary dispute | Taguig Makati Pateros | 1983 | 2023 | Taguig claimed more than 7.29 square kilometres (2.81 sq mi) of land in Fort Bonifacio, an area formerly administered by Makati. On August 5, 2013, the Court of Appeals Sixth Division ruled that Makati had legal jurisdiction over the area, thus invalidating Taguig's claim. [163] Taguig did not abandon its claims and petitioned the Court of Appeals to have the decision revoked. [164] Pateros also claimed the area and filed a petition before the Taguig Regional Court Branch 271 in 2012 concerning its claim. Pateros reiterated its claims in 2013 following the decision of the Court of Appeals awarding Makati jurisdiction over the area. [165] [166] The Supreme Court finally ruled in favor of Taguig in 2023, [167] and the ruling began to be implemented in that year's elections. |
Certain islands in the Naf River, St. Martin's Island | Bangladesh Myanmar | 1971 | 2019 | The dispute dates back to the independence of Bangladesh. The two countries agreed on Bangladeshi sovereignty over St. Martin's Island in 1974, but a maritime dispute continued. Marked by sporadic border violence, including the Tatmadaw shooting Bangladeshi fishermen, the maritime dispute was solved in 2012 by an ITLOS ruling. Then, in 2018, a diplomatic incident occurred when the Burmese government released an official map depicting St. Martin's Island as Burmese territory. [168] Myanmar subsequently acknowledged Bangladeshi sovereignty over St. Martin's Island and finally removed it from its official map by 2019. [169] |
Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border | Assam Arunachal Pradesh | 1951 | 2023 | The dispute between the two Indian states spanned 1,200 points [170] and contained 123 villages, dating as far back as a 1951 single-member commission land transfer recommendation when Arunachal Pradesh was the North-East Frontier Agency. In April 2023, both states signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly demarcate their border. By September 2023, 115 villages went to Arunachal Pradesh and 8 villages went to Assam. [171] |
Kuwait-Saudi Arabia border, Qaruh, and Umm al Maradim | Kuwait Saudi Arabia Iraq United Kingdom | 1913 | 2019 | The dispute dates as far back as when the United Kingdom and Ottoman Empire signed the Anglo-Ottoman Convention of 1913, defining the border in two phases: a formal boundary as well as a British "sphere of influence". This agreement was never ratified due to major complications: the Ottoman Empire had no de facto control over any of the area, because the Sheikhdom of Kuwait was effectively a British protectorate, Najd Sanjak was occupied by the Emirate of Nejd and Hasa, and the signatories proceeded to fight against each other in World War I, which ended in the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire. From 1919-1920, the Saudis attempted to annex Kuwait in the Kuwait-Najd War, which ended in the Uqair Protocol of 1922. The Protocol defined a "neutral zone" between the Sheikhdom of Kuwait and Sultanate of Nejd. The State of Kuwait inherited the United Kingdom's territorial claim when it gained independence in 1961. In 1965, a separation line was drawn halfway through the neutral zone; Qaruh and Umm al Maradim are north of the line. Kuwait interpreted as the de jure border but Saudi Arabia recognized it only as de facto, leaving the sovereignty of the northern half of the "neutral zone" in question. In 1990, Ba'athist Iraq invaded Kuwait; the Republic of Kuwait was declared and annexed into Iraq, causing the Gulf War. Kuwaiti and Coalition forces recaptured Qaruh and Umm al-Maradim in one of the first battles of the war, which ended in total Iraqi defeat and withdrawal of Iraq's territorial claim. Finally, in 2019, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia signed a memorandum of understanding in which Saudi Arabia recognized the separation line as a permanent international border. [172] |
Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding territories, parts of Goranboy, Khojavend, and Tartar districts | Azerbaijan Artsakh | 1988 | 2024 | Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan [173] but controlled by the Republic of Artsakh, which was de facto supported by Armenia until its dissolution in 2024. Artsakh claimed a part of Goranboy district, which it lost during Operation Goranboy in 1993 during the First Nagorno-Karabakh War, as part of Shahumyan Province. Artsakh also claimed but did not control parts of Khojavend and Tartar districts as parts of Martuni and Martakert provinces, respectively. Azerbaijan captured the surrounding territories and the city of Shusha during the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War in 2020, then finally all of Nagorno-Karabakh proper during a 2023 offensive. |
Territory | Former claimants | Dispute started | Dispute settled | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Village of Aibga and surrounding area [174] [175] | Republic of Abkhazia Russia Georgia | 2011 | 2011 | During the existence of the Soviet Union, the village of Aibga was divided into two; the southern part belonged to Georgia and the northern part to Russia. In March 2011 Russia laid claim to the southern area of Aibga. After the Abkhaz side proved that the southern part of Aibga belonged to the Georgian SSR, the claim on the village was dropped by Russia. [176] |
Åland | Finland Sweden | 1917 | 1921 | Sweden and Finland argued over the control of the Åland Islands (located between Sweden and Finland). The Åland movement (Ålandsrörelsen) wanted Åland to reunite with its old mother country Sweden (Finland and Åland belonged to Sweden before 1809). The movement gathered signatures from over 7000 inhabitants of legal age at the Åland Islands in 1917 (that was about 96% of the population) - they all supported a union with Sweden. When Finland became independent (December 6, 1917) Sweden wanted a plebiscite about the future of the Åland Islands to solve the problem. Finland refused and argued that the Åland Islands had always been a natural part of Finland - even when Finland was under Swedish rule. Sweden appealed to the League of Nations referring to the right of the population to determine which country they should belong to. After studying the matter closely the League of Nations decided Finland should retain sovereignty over the province but that the Åland Islands should be made an autonomous territory. The Swedish Prime Minister said he didn't accept the verdict but he also said that Sweden was not going to use military force to get their claims. [177] |
Baltic Sea | Poland Denmark | 1978 | 2018 | Poland has decided to cede to Denmark 80 percent of the disputed territory [178] |
Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina | Soviet Union Socialist Republic of Romania | 1940 | 1989 | On 13 November 1989, Nicolae Ceauşescu demanded the annulment of the Molotov–Ribbentrop pact, pursuant to which Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina were occupied by the Soviet Union, and the return of these territories to Romania. This demand was officially adopted as party policy by 14th Congress of the Communist Party of Romania, held later the same month. Ceauşescu was overthrown in the Romanian Revolution in December 1989 before the claim could be seriously pursued, and the post-revolutionary National Salvation Front abandoned it. |
Bulgaria-Turkey riverine border | Bulgaria Turkey | 1990 | 1990 | The border at the Rezovo's mouth was the subject of a minor territorial dispute between Bulgaria and Turkey, which was settled in the 1990s. As a result of an agreement between the two countries of 6 May 1992 (ratified by Bulgaria in 1998), Bulgaria received a small land area of several square kilometres in the Rezovo Bay in return for water area in the continental shelf. |
Graham Island | Two Sicilies Malta France Spain | 1831 | 1831 | A dispute between the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, the British Crown Colony of Malta, the Kingdom of France and the Kingdom of Spain occurred after the volcanic island appeared in 1831. The British were the first to claim the island as part of Malta, and they were followed by the Two Sicilies and France, while Spain expressed their ambitions to control the island. The island disappeared by December 1831 and the dispute stopped. A Sicilian flag was lowered over the now submerged island in 2000 to show Italian claims to the area. It is no longer disputed by Britain, France, Spain or Malta. |
Lampedusa | Kingdom of Sicily Malta | 1800 | 1814 | The island was controlled by British troops as a de facto part of the Malta Protectorate from 1800 onwards. After a British royal commission was sent there in 1812, the new Governor of Malta Sir Thomas Maitland withdrew British troops and the island was returned to Sicily. |
Tenedos/Bozcaada | Turkey Greece | 1920 | 1923 | On 11 August 1920, following World War I, the Treaty of Sèvres with the defeated Ottoman Empire granted the island to Greece, who joined the war in Allies' side in May 1917. The new Turkish Government of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, based in Ankara, which was not party to the treaty, overthrew the Ottoman government, which signed but did not ratify the treaty. After the Turkish War of Independence ended in Greek defeat in Anatolia, and the fall of David Lloyd George and his Middle Eastern policies after the Carlton Club meeting, the western powers agreed to the Treaty of Lausanne with the new Turkish Republic, in 1923. This treaty made Tenedos/Bozcaada and Imbros part of Turkey, and it guaranteed a special autonomous administrative status there to accommodate the Greeks. |
Island of Ireland | United Kingdom Revolutionary Irish Republic | 1919 | 1922 | On 21 January 1919, the 69 Sinn Féin MPs elected in the 1918 United Kingdom general election in Ireland to the British House of Commons refused to take their seats in the British Parliament and instead assembled in a separate parliament in Ireland, which proclaimed Irish independence under a revolutionary Irish Republic, leading to the Irish War of Independence. In 1920, following the collapse of the British administration, the revolutionary republic established control over 21 of Ireland's 32 counties, [179] with only urban areas and what would later become Northern Ireland remaining under British control; however, by the Anglo-Irish treaty of 1921, which ended the war of independence, the revolutionary republic was replaced by the Irish Free State—a semi-independent Dominion of the British Empire albeit separate from the United Kingdom itself—on 6 December 1922. A day later, Northern Ireland opted out of inclusion in the Irish Free State and returned to the UK, thus de facto effecting the partition of Ireland into two regions, established de jure by the British Parliament's Government of Ireland Act 1920 on 23 December 1920. On 1 July 1937, the Irish Free State adopted a new constitution, by which it declared itself a fully independent state simply called "Ireland"; this Constitution also declared a claim to Northern Ireland until 1998. |
Northern Ireland | United Kingdom Ireland | 1937 | 1998 | Formerly disputed between Ireland and the United Kingdom since the Adoption of the Constitution of Ireland on 29 December 1937, it was settled by the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, when Ireland amended its constitution to withdraw its constitutional claim. Both countries acknowledged that the territory can join the rest of Ireland if separate referendums in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland approve of the former's cession. |
Pytalovo (Abrene in Latvia) | Russia Latvia | 1991 | 2007 | Pytalovo was a village in the parish of Vyshgorogok, the westernmost part of the Ostrov uyezd, Governorate of Pskov that was ceded from RSFSR to Latvia under the Treaty of Riga (1920) along with parishes of Kachanovo and Tonkovo. In 1940 Latvian Republic was annexed by the Soviet Union and Latvian SSR was established, encompassing the above named territories until 1944 when they were transferred to the district of Ostrov, Pskov Oblast, RSFSR. [180] Since 1991 reestablished Republic of Latvia disputed Russian jurisdiction over the region until the border treaty with Russia was signed in 2007. [181] |
Black Sea and Snake Island | Ukraine Romania | 2004 | 2009 | In 2004 Romania filed a case to International Court of Justice claiming that Ukraine's Snake Island was an uninhabitable rock under UNCLOS standards and thus not eligible to carry influence over determination of the maritime boundary between the two states. During the Soviet times the island was a small naval station with a lighthouse. In 2007 the Ukrainian parliament approved an establishment of a small settlement there, Bile, as part of the Odesa Oblast. The maritime boundary issue was settled by the International Court of Justice in 2009, awarding Romania 80% of the disputed area. |
Vilnius Region | Lithuania Poland | 1920 | 1945 | During the Polish–Soviet War Polish armies entered the Vilnius Region which was at the time part of the Soviet Lithuanian–Belorussian Soviet Socialist Republic. In 1920, Polish General Lucjan Żeligowski led a coup and established the Republic of Central Lithuania which was annexed to the Second Polish Republic after the war as part of the historic Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and due to ethnic Poles in the region. Lithuania moved its capital to Kaunas while never giving up its claim to Vilnius. The Lithuanians found support in the Soviet Union for their cause signing the Soviet–Lithuanian Mutual Assistance Treaty in 1939. Following the Soviet invasion of Poland, the region came under Soviet control and became part of the Lithuanian SSR after World War II which was followed by a large number of ethnic Poles being deported two times. Following the fall of the Soviet Union and Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania the Vilnius region became part of Lithuania again. |
Passetto di Borgo in the vicinity of the Vatican City | Italy Holy See | 1870 | 1991 | Pope John Paul II recognized the sovereignty of Italy over the Passetto on May 18, 1991. [182] [183] |
Jan Mayen | Norway Iceland | 1979 | 1980 | Norway and Iceland argued over sovereignty of Jan Mayen from the period of 1979 to 1980. The island had been annexed by Norway in 1926, and was home of a Norwegian meteorological station. During a delegation to Iceland in April 1980, Icelandic foreign minister Ólafur Jóhannesson cited statements from the late 1920s to point out how Iceland never officially recognised Norway’s annexation of the island. He also indicated that, historically, the island had much closer ties to Iceland than it did to Norway. The Icelandic government never intended to seriously dispute the sovereignty of the island, but used these points in order to gain a bargaining position over the waters surrounding the island. On the 28th of May 1980, Iceland and Norway signed a treaty which gave Iceland most of what it wanted, including a recognition of the 200 nautical mile Exclusive economic zone around Iceland. [184] |
Territory | Claimants | Notes |
---|---|---|
Part of the EEZ generated by the Natuna Islands | People's Republic of China [note 1] Republic of China [note 1] Indonesia | The People's Republic of China claims the water off the Natuna Islands that fall under the nine-dash line claim are traditional Chinese fishing grounds. The Republic of China on Taiwan also claims the area. [185] |
Beaufort Sea | Canada USA | |
Northwest Territories | ||
Dixon Entrance | ||
Northwest Passage and some other Arctic waters | U.S. claims navigation rights | |
Strait of Juan de Fuca | ||
Gulf of Venezuela and Los Monjes Archipelago surrounding waters | Colombia Venezuela | Dispute regarding the undefined sea border between both countries. [186] |
Aegean dispute | Greece Turkey | Broad number of delimitation disputes about a.o. national airspace, territorial waters and exclusive economic zones. |
Carlingford Lough and Lough Foyle boundary dispute | Ireland United Kingdom | Lough Foyle divides County Donegal, Republic of Ireland, and County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. Carlingford Lough divides County Louth, Republic of Ireland, and County Down, Northern Ireland. [187] [188] |
Dollart Bay | Germany Netherlands | The exact course of the border through this bay is disputed, [189] yet the countries have agreed to disagree by signing a treaty in 1960. [190] |
Lake Constance | Germany Austria Switzerland | Switzerland holds the view that the border runs through the middle of the lake.Austria is of the opinion that the contentious area belongs to all the states on its banks.Germany holds an ambiguous opinion. |
Gulf of Piran | Slovenia Croatia | An agreement was signed (and ratified by Croatia's parliament on 20 November 2009) to pursue binding arbitration to both the land and maritime portions of this continuing dispute. In 2015 collusion between the Slovenian judge on the arbitration panel and a representative from the Slovenian government was uncovered. The Croatian Sabor voted to withdraw from the arbitration, citing allegations of significant breaches of arbitration rules by Slovenia as the reason.Despite this the arbitration tribunal continued its work, issuing a ruling in 2017. [191] |
Algerian-Spanish-Italian maritime border dispute | Algeria Spain Italia | In order to benefit from the exclusive economic zone resources, especially the offshore hydrocarbons, Algeria decided to announce the later in March 2018 by Presidential Decree N° 18-96. But the differing viewpoints of the States with opposite coasts on the bases and rules used to draw the border line led to the overlap of the Algerian exclusive economic zone with the Spanish exclusive economic zone and the Italian ecological protection zone, which spawned a double border dispute. On the one hand, a dispute between Algeria and Spain. On the other hand, a dispute between Algeria and Italy. |
An exclusive economic zone (EEZ), as prescribed by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, is an area of the sea in which a sovereign state has exclusive rights regarding the exploration and use of marine resources, including energy production from water and wind.
Scarborough Shoal, also known as Panacot,Bajo de Masinloc, Huangyan Island, Minzhu Jiao, and Panatag Shoal, are two skerries between Macclesfield Bank to the west and Luzon to the east. Luzon is 220 kilometres (119 nmi) away and the nearest landmass. The atoll is a disputed territory claimed by the Republic of the Philippines through the Treaty of Washington in 1900 via the 1734 Velarde map, as well as by the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China (Taiwan). The atolls' status is often discussed in conjunction with other territorial disputes in the South China Sea, such as those involving the Spratly Islands and the 2012 Scarborough Shoal standoff. In 2013, the Philippines initiated arbitration against China under UNCLOS. In 2016, the tribunal ruled that China's historic title within the nine-dash line was invalid but did not rule on sovereignty.
The Malaysia–Singapore border is an international maritime border between the Southeast Asian countries of Malaysia, which lies to the north of the border, and Singapore to the south. The boundary is formed by straight lines between maritime geographical coordinates running along or near the deepest channel of the Straits of Johor.
The United States of America was formed after thirteen British colonies in North America declared independence from the British Empire on July 4, 1776. In the Lee Resolution, passed by the Second Continental Congress two days prior, the colonies resolved that they were free and independent states. The union was formalized in the Articles of Confederation, which came into force on March 1, 1781, after being ratified by all 13 states. Their independence was recognized by Great Britain in the Treaty of Paris of 1783, which concluded the American Revolutionary War. This effectively doubled the size of the colonies, now able to stretch west past the Proclamation Line to the Mississippi River. This land was organized into territories and then states, though there remained some conflict with the sea-to-sea grants claimed by some of the original colonies. In time, these grants were ceded to the federal government.
The Guyana–Venezuela territorial dispute is an ongoing territorial dispute between Guyana and Venezuela over the Essequibo region, also known as Esequibo or Guayana Esequiba in Spanish, a 159,500 km2 (61,600 sq mi) area west of the Essequibo River. The territory, excluding the Venezuelan-controlled Ankoko Island, is controlled by Guyana as part of six of its regions, based on the 1899 Paris Arbitral Award. It is also claimed by Venezuela as the Guayana Esequiba State. The boundary dispute was inherited from the colonial powers and has persisted following the independence of Venezuela and Guyana.
The Sino–Indian border dispute is an ongoing territorial dispute over the sovereignty of two relatively large, and several smaller, separated pieces of territory between China and India. The territorial disputes between the two countries result from the historical consequences of colonialism in Asia and the lack of clear historical boundary demarcations.
The Indonesia–Malaysia border consists of a 1,881 km land border that divides the territory of Indonesia and Malaysia on the island of Borneo. It also includes maritime boundaries along the length of the Straits of Malacca, in the South China Sea and in the Celebes Sea.
The Spratly Islands dispute is an ongoing territorial dispute among Brunei, China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam concerning "ownership" of the Spratly Islands, a group of islands and associated "maritime features" located in the South China Sea. The dispute is characterized by diplomatic stalemate and the employment of military pressure techniques in the advancement of national territorial claims. All except Brunei occupy some of the maritime features.
There are several disputed territories of India. A territorial dispute is a disagreement over the possession or control of land between two or more sovereign states or over the possession or control of land by a new state and occupying power after it has conquered the land from a former state no longer currently recognized by the new state.
The nine-dash line, also referred to as the eleven-dash line by Taiwan, is a set of line segments on various maps that accompanied the claims of the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China in the South China Sea. The contested area includes the Paracel Islands, the Spratly Islands, the Pratas Island and the Vereker Banks, the Macclesfield Bank, and the Scarborough Shoal. Certain places have undergone land reclamation by the PRC, ROC, and Vietnam. The People's Daily of the PRC uses the term Duànxùxiàn (断续线) or Nánhǎi Duànxùxiàn, while the ROC government uses the term Shíyīduàn xiàn.
Territorial disputes in the South China Sea involve conflicting island and maritime claims in the South China Sea made by Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, the People's Republic of China (PRC), Taiwan, and Vietnam. The disputes involve the islands, reefs, banks, and other features of the region, including the Spratly Islands, Paracel Islands, Scarborough Shoal, and various boundaries in the Gulf of Tonkin. The waters near the Indonesian Natuna Islands, which some regard as geographically part of the South China Sea, are disputed as well.
The South China Sea Arbitration was an arbitration case brought by the Republic of the Philippines against the People's Republic of China (PRC) under Annex VII of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea concerning certain issues in the South China Sea, including the nine-dash line introduced by the mainland-based Republic of China since as early as 1947. A tribunal of arbitrators appointed the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) as the registry for the proceedings.
The Australia–East Timor spying scandal began in 2004 when the Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS) clandestinely planted covert listening devices in a room adjacent to the East Timor (Timor-Leste) Prime Minister's Office at Dili, to obtain information in order to ensure Australia held the upper hand in negotiations with East Timor over the rich oil and gas fields in the Timor Gap. Even though the East Timor government was unaware of the espionage operation undertaken by Australia, negotiations were hostile. The first Prime Minister of East Timor, Mari Alkatiri, bluntly accused the Howard government of plundering the oil and gas in the Timor Sea, stating:
"Timor-Leste loses $1 million a day due to Australia's unlawful exploitation of resources in the disputed area. Timor-Leste cannot be deprived of its rights or territory because of a crime."
The Bhutan–China border is the international boundary between Bhutan and China, running for 477 km (296 mi) through the Himalayas between the two tripoints with India. The official boundaries remain disputed.
The borders of Indonesia include land and maritime borders with Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, and East Timor, as well as shared maritime boundaries with Australia, India, Palau, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Chinese irredentism involves irredentist claims to the territories of former Chinese dynasties made by the Republic of China (ROC) and subsequently the People's Republic of China (PRC).
This article is about territorial disputes of the People's Republic of China (PRC). A territorial dispute is a disagreement over the possession or control of land between two or more political entities. Many of China's territorial disputes result from the historical consequences of colonialism in Asia and the lack of clear historical boundary demarcations. Many of these disputes are almost identical to those that the Republic of China (ROC) based in Taipei, also known as Taiwan, has with other countries. Therefore, many of the subsequent resolved disputes made by the PRC after 1949 with other governments may not be recognized by the ROC.
This is a timeline of country and capital changes around the world since 2000. It includes dates of declarations of independence, changes in country name, changes of capital city or name, and changes in territory such as the annexation, cession, concession, occupation, or secession of land. Territorial conquests as a result of war are included on the timeline at the conclusion of military campaigns. However, those changes in the course of specific battles and day-to-day operations are generally not included in this list. Changes in airspace and maritime territory are included only when they are subject to a dispute.
The Chilean–Peruvian territorial dispute is a territorial dispute between Chile and Peru that started in the aftermath of the War of the Pacific and ended significantly in 1929 with the signing of the Treaty of Lima and in 2014 with a ruling by the International Court of Justice. The dispute applies since 2014 to a 37,610 km2 territory in the Chile–Peru border, as a result of the maritime dispute between both states.
Djibouti's foreign minister, Mahamoud Ali Youssouf, alleged in a televised address on 16 June that Eritrean forces had occupied the disputed Dumaira Mountains, immediately after Qatar withdrew a 500-strong contingent of peacekeepers without notification on 14 June.
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: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)The Afghanistan–China boundary agreement, signed on November 22, 1963, was the fifth of these boundaries treaties initiated by the Chinese communists.
Preliminary studies indicate that, as the result of an 1870 surveying error, Oregon has about 31,000 acres of California, while California has about 20,000 acres of Oregon.
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